Kristin Garth’s highly anticipated Puritan U is an honest reflection of her experience growing up in a strict Mormon household and her transformation following her sexual assault. This confession was in direct response to the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court judge despite harrowing evidence in Christine Blasey Ford’s damning testimony. Garth’s mastery of the sonnet form beautifully supplements her becoming a survivor and personal growth despite of it. She champions herself in solidarity, baring her evidence for the world to see and understand.
Her life is separated into five “exhibits” beginning with her youth in ‘Florida’ and ending with the start of her stripper lifestyle in ‘Hell.’ Garth is known in the writing community for her usage of sonnets, but her superb transitions in narrative should be acknowledged as well. Chronicling a memoir is difficult work, but Garth makes it look easy. Each poem is accompanied by a footnote adding further fleshing out her path toward reclamation. Her words spill as though she is weeping; the sadness & pain translate intensely. These touchstones in her life are shared in such detail; it is as though the reader is transported to that particular time, experiencing these situations with her, as she could evoke empathy from any reader. We’re rooting for her as not only readers, but witnesses to retelling of this heinous crime.
The reader learns a hard lesson from Garth: despite the inflicted trauma occurring twenty years ago, its wound remains with Garth for what may be the rest of her life. But, she is ironborn, forged herself with herself and forever armed with her words. This is her gift to her fellow women: though we are affected, we are not defined by these attacks. Her redemption comes with her success, and it can’t help but resonate with this quote popularized by Edgar Allen Poe’s, The Cask of Amontillado, “nemo me impune laccessit.” No one shall harm me unpunished. And no one again shall harm Kristin Garth with impunity.
Keana Águila Labra (she/her) is the Editor-in-Chief of Marías at Sampaguitas. Her work may be found in the Aoi Kuma Journal, Anti-Heroin Chic, Peculiars Magazine, Peeking Cat Poetry, Reclaim Anthology, and La Scrittrice. She penned articles as the co-editor of Chopsticks Alley Pinoy. She is a regular contributor for Royal Rose Magazine and Rose Quartz Magazine. She is a Poetry Reader for Homology Lit. Knowing the importance of representation, her work is evidence that Filipino Americans are present in the literary world. She is on Twitter as @KeanaLabra.